In 2001, Guzman broke out of a different Mexican prison by hiding in a laundry
cart and with likely cooperation from prison staff.

The probability that Mexico's
most notorious criminal bribed his way out of Altiplano makes
Guzman's escape "Mexico's
worst nightmare" —
especially since escape from Altiplano should have been
inconceivable.

According
to The New Yorker, airspace around the prison was designated a
no-fly zone to prevent aerial escapes. In addition, airwaves in
the region were reportedly restricted so that prisoners would not
be able to communicate via smuggled cell phones.

In addition, Altiplano had a
multitude of ground-level security measures. The entirety of the
prison was covered in CCTV cameras and access control points. All
entries into the prison have metal, drug, and explosive
detectors, Mexican publication Milenio
notes.

A general view of the perimeter of the Altiplano
Federal Penitentiary, where the drug lord Joaquin "El Chapo"
Guzman escaped, in Almoloya de Juarez, on the outskirts of Mexico
City, July 12, 2015.Tomas
Bravo/REUTERS

Ultimately, none of these
measures stopped Guzman's escape. On Saturday night, the prison's
security cameras recorded Guzman entering a shower.

From his stall, Guzman
climbeddown a 32-foot tall
ladder into a recently constructed tunnel that was over a mile
long. The tunnel was well ventilated, lighted, and even had a
motorcycle on rails.

Google

The tunnel
terminatedat a house under
construction outside of the prison walls. The scope of the prison
break and the extraordinary amount of work that went into
constructing the tunnel has raised suspicions that Guzman or the
Sinaloa cartel bought off prison officials and even members of
the Mexican government.

Mexico's Attorney General
Arely Gomez Gonzalez (2nd R) looks into the entrance of a tunnel
connected to the Altiplano Federal Penitentiary and used by drug
lord Joaquin 'El Chapo' Guzman to escape, in Almoloya de Juarez,
on the outskirts of Mexico City, July 12,
2015.Attorney General's
Office

Guzman previouslyescapedthe high-security Puente Grande
prison in 2001, also through bribery. Ultimately, 71 staff
members and the warden of that prison were charged in connection
with the escape.

Guzman's escape from Altiplano likely involved the
same sort of large-scale corruption. “Anyone who makes a mile-long tunnel from
his cell and escapes on a motorcycle is necessarily in collusion
with the government," an unnamed Mexican officialtoldThe New Yorker.

Aside from the damage of having the head of Mexico's largest drug
cartel again at large, the escape calls into question the state
of the country's entire criminal justice system. Even the
supposedly most intensely guarded prison in the country isn't
safe from the corruption and clientalism that has long
characterized the Mexican state's relationship with drug
traffickers.

And Milenio
notesthat Altiplano also
holds cartel heads from across the country — including the Knight
Templar's notorious Servando "La Tuta" Gomez Martinez.Guzman has managed to escape
from prison twice, and other incarcerated drug lords have reason
to believe that they can pull off a similar feat.